Shehbaz Sharif holds meetings with leaders of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Belarus on the sidelines of SCO meeting n Shehbaz, Jaishankar shake hands, exchange greetings n PM presides over high-profile SCO meeting today.

ISLAMABAD  -  The leadership of the member states of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to attend 23rd SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will preside over the meeting today. The foreign dignitaries, who have arrived in Islamabad, include Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Zhaparov Akylbek, Belarus Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of Tajikistan Qohir Rasulzoda, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Olzhas Bektenov, Turkmenistan’s Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Rashid Meredov, Indian Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Prime Minister of Mongolia Oyun- Erdene Luvsannamsarai.

Russian prime minister and Iranian first vice-president arrived late Tuesday night. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hosted a dinner in the honor of visiting delegates and received every head of the delegation. 

Indian external affairs minis­ter Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishan­kar was also warmly received by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Both the leaders shook hands and exchange of pleas­antry words. The SCO Summit begins today morning with in­augural speech by Prime Min­ister Shehbaz Sharif. The heads of delegations would also make speeches followed by close door session. Also, PM Sheh­baz Sharif met with SCO lead­ers one by one on the sidelines of the SCO Council of Heads of Government Meeting. 

PAKISTAN, TAJIKISTAN PMS DISCUSS BILATERAL TIES

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a bilateral meeting with his Tajikistan counterpart Qohir Rasulzoda in Islamabad on Tuesday on the sidelines of the SCO Council of Heads of Government Meeting.

While deeply appreciating Tajikistan’s active and con­structive participation in the SCO meeting, Shehbaz Shar­if stressed that as brotherly countries and regional part­ners, Tajikistan and Paki­stan share enduring bonds of friendship and cooperation.

He fondly recalled his pro­ductive visit to Dushanbe in July this year, and expressed satisfaction over the positive trajectory of the bilateral re­lationship. He underscored that both countries should continue to collaborate close­ly and further cement the mutually advantageous co­operation across all spheres of shared interest, particu­larly in the areas of trade, in­vestment, energy and region­al connectivity.

Prime Minister Qohir Ra­sulzoda conveyed warm fe­licitations on organizing the SCO meeting by Pakistan, in its capacity as the SCO Chair. He thanked Pakistan for the warm welcome and hospital­ity extended to him and the SCO delegates. While extend­ing best wishes of Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon to the Prime Minister, he con­curred that there is great po­tential to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries. The Tajik Prime Minister also thanked the Prime Minister and the Gov­ernment of Pakistan for al­lowing sugar export to Ta­jikistan as this will further enhance the bilateral trade among both countries.

PM PRAISES POSITIVE TRAJECTORY OF PAKISTAN-KYRGYZSTAN TIES

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Jap­arov, on the sidelines of SCO meeting. The Prime Minis­ter thanked Kyrgyz Repub­lic’s positive and active par­ticipation in the SCO meeting and appreciated Kyrgyzstan’s support extended to Pakistan as the SCO Chair.

Shehbaz Sharif also re­called the warm and broth­erly ties between the two countries and expressed sat­isfaction over the positive trajectory of the bilateral re­lations between Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.

He conveyed Pakistan’s strong desire to further strengthen cooperation with Kyrgyzstan and stressed the need to enhance new ave­nues of collaboration in the areas of trade, investment, people-to-people contacts and regional connectivity.

Akylbek Japarov congrat­ulated the Prime Minister on the successful organiza­tion of the SCO meeting, as well as the excellent arrange­ments made for the visit­ing delegations. He thanked Pakistan for the warm wel­come and hospitality extend­ed to him and the accompa­nying delegation. The Kyrgyz leader reciprocated his coun­try’s strong desire to contin­ue working with Pakistan for enhancing bilateral cooper­ation in all areas of mutual benefit for the two countries.

‘TURKMENISTAN FELICITATES PAKISTAN ON SUCCESSFUL SCO SUMMIT’

Turkmenistan’s Depu­ty Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Mere­dov called on Prime Minis­ter Shehbaz Sharif in Islam­abad on the sidelines of SCO meeting. Welcoming the par­ticipation of Turkmenistan as a special guest in the meet­ing, the Prime Minister em­phasized the importance of Pakistan’s long-standing, his­torical and fraternal relations with Turkmenistan.

Expressing good wishes to the Turkmen leadership, She­hbaz Sharif emphasized the need to increase high-level exchanges between the two countries. He emphasized the importance of working to­gether to maximize bilateral cooperation, especially in the areas of trade, energy and re­gional connectivity.

Rashid Meredov congrat­ulated Pakistan on the suc­cessful holding of the Shang­hai Cooperation Organization Heads of Government Meet­ing and conveyed good wish­es to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on behalf of the Turk­men leadership.

He reiterated Turkmeni­stan’s unwavering resolve to make Pakistan-Turkmenistan relations stronger and closer.

Pakistan, Belarus vow to expand trade, investment ties

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a bilateral meet­ing with Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchen­ko at the margins of the SCO Council of Heads of Govern­ment meeting in Islamabad.

Welcoming Belarus’ par­ticipation in the SCO meet­ing, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif felicitated Belarus on becoming SCO’s full mem­ber and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to working closely with Belarus in fos­tering the “Shanghai Spirit”.

Recalling his warm and productive meeting with President Aleksandr Lu­kashenko in Astana in July this year, Shehbaz Sharif said regular high-level exchanges had imparted a positive mo­mentum to the cordial ties between the two countries. He stressed the need to real­ize the full potential of bilat­eral cooperation, particularly in the areas of trade, invest­ment, agricultural machinery and joint production of trac­tors and connectivity.

Roman Golovchenko warm­ly congratulated Pakistan on successful conduct of the SCO meeting and its positive out­comes. He thanked Pakistan for the warm welcome and hospitality extended to him and his delegation. Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko assured that Belarus would closely collaborate with Pa­kistan, in its capacity as SCO Council of Heads of Govern­ment Chair and to promote the organization’s purposes, principles and priorities. The Belarusian Prime Minister expressed satisfaction over the positive direction of bi­lateral relationship between the two countries and recip­rocated Pakistan’s desire to further strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation across all spheres of shared interest through joint efforts.